Affandi’s Sitor Situmorang
Property of a Gentleman
Lot #169
This unique portrait of Indonesian literary
figure Sitor Situmorang by the maestro Affandi originates from a limited art
collection of a gentleman living in South Jakarta. While he did not collect
many works of art, he had paintings from important artists such as Mochtar
Apin, Affandi, Henk Ngantung and even an early painting by Dede Eri Supria.
Henk Ngantung’s Di Bangku Sekolah
(lot #066 in this auction) also comes from this collection
The
collector was quite a good friend of Mochtar Apin as well as Sitor Situmorang.
He had always wanted to have a painting by Affandi in his collection. However,
Affandi’s paintings were sold at prices he was not yet able to afford at the
time. Therefore, he immediately jumped at the opportunity to acquire this
portrait of his friend. Certainly portraits were considerably lower in price
than other more popular paintings by the maestro.
Following
the passing of Sitor Situmorang, the collector thought it was also time to part
with the painting, so as to give an opportunity for other young collectors to
be able to purchase a painting by Affandi at a price that is within reach of
their budget. Indeed, as an auction house one of our functions is to find art
works that have been in a collection for often long, long periods of time,
brand new homes where they can continue to be enjoyed.